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      Telia Norway Lets Business Customers Use Music Streaming App Via Personal Payment

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      Telia Norway Lets Business Customers Use Music Streaming App Via Personal Payment

      Mobile operator Telia Norway said that customers with a business subscription can now use its Music Freedom service without burdening their employer with the cost, by paying the NOK 49.00 (US $5.10) monthly charge themselves using the Norwegian mobile payment app Vipps. The aim is to stop corporate subscriptions from being restrictive.

      Music Freedom separates data used for streaming or downloading tracks from the allowance provided in the subscription. It works with Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Beat and Audiomack, via mobile application or browser. Music Freedom includes use in the EU/EEA and Switzerland.

      Vegar Heir, commercial director at Vipps, said Telia is an early adaptor of new payment methods and is one of the first mobile operators to offer its customers the option of recurring payments.

      Tarifica’s Take

      The increasing blurring of the boundaries between personal and business use of mobile devices poses some challenges for both mobile operators and mobile users. BYOD usage patterns encourage employees of companies who are on business plans to use their devices for ubiquitous personal purposes such as music streaming. Of course, this can create problems for the employers when it comes to dealing with the charges, getting reimbursement from employees and maintaining corporate morale.

      Telia Norway is offering an app-driven solution to this problem by allowing a kind of split billing in which the employee pays the monthly charge directly, as an individual, for music streaming from Spotify, Apple Music or whichever service, despite the fact that the rest of the data consumed is paid for the company. This way, there is no conflict, and both employer and employees are financially whole. The partnership with Vipps, the mobile payment platform, enables the functionality of the payments possible in what appears to be a seamless manner.

      Music Freedom, true to its name, should provide enough freedom to keep corporate subscribers happy, which in turn should increase loyalty and subscriber acquisition in future.